My Scare with a Bloody Wound

Ok...this is why I went to school and learned about emergency medicine and how to treat life threatening situations. Or at least that is what I told myself when I went through a tough situation this last week. I work as an athletic trainer at a local high school a couple times a week, helping out a friend of mine with game and practice coverage. This last Monday seemed like any other day. I was sitting in my office awaiting practice to conclude when my ordinary day turned into something extraordinary. A student came in yelling that his friend had cut himself. Of course knowing the inconsistency that any teenager would expose, I didn't think much of his hysteria. However, as I began to walk outside, I saw a young man grabbing his arm, screaming at the top of his lungs, blood leaking out like he had turned on a faucet of blood, with the occasional squirting in the air. You are never prepared for something like that! I don't care how much training you have! After calling 911, and applying a tourniquet he was stable, bloody, but stable. I know I will never forget the look on his face or the hysteria of his friends. He punched his hand through a window, and as he moved his arm out, the glass cut through his arm like butter. His laceration was at least an inch thick and 3 inches wide cutting through most of his muscles and tendons. After 3 1/2 hours of surgery, he is scheduled to begin rehab. From what I hear, all because of a girl...yes...a girl. Were we ever like that in high school? Oh but the fun does not end; the school is filing charges against him for defacing school property. So the saga will continue....stay tuned. I did however learn to be more appreciative of my family and the value of health.